Players, managers and team personnel around baseball honored their mothers, wives, sisters, grandmothers and plenty more on Sunday for Mother's Day. And, in some cases, that recognition extended to some players' influences on the diamond.

"She was my first coach growing up," Red Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia said of his mother, Jeri. "She coached me until I was 8 or 9, maybe a little older. She always worked hard, got me to every practice. She made a lot of sacrifices."

More players league-wide paid homage to the women who have made sacrifices and been influential in their lives, as teams also raised awareness for breast cancer. Some players used special-edition Louisville Slugger pink bats, such as Astros outfielder Chris Carter. Carter crushed a three-run homer in the eighth inning against the Rangers with his pink lumber, and plans to give the bat to his mom as an extra Mother's Day gift.

"It's the first time I got one to swing and I'm happy I got that and finally hit a home run for my mom," Carter said. "She's been asking every year and I finally got it."

Carter isn't the first to present his mother with one of the unique pink bats as a gift. Two years ago, Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay gave his game-used pink bat to his mother. This season, Jay plans to give the pink bat he used on Sunday against the Rockies to a family friend who is battling cancer.

"It's nice to be able to honor the cancer survivors in this way," Jay said. "I always look forward to this. And it being Mother's Day -- that's special too."

Instead of distributing his bat as a gift, Orioles first baseman Chris Davis might consider keeping it around a bit longer.

"If I get some hits with them," Davis joked before hitting a home run in his first at-bat against the Twins on Sunday, "Maybe I'll see if I can use them the rest of the year."

Aside from the pink bats, other players joined in by wearing batting gloves, wristbands and other equipment brandished in pink.

It's a cause Cardinals manager Mike Matheny can appreciate. His grandmother, Luella Keefer, of Leon, W.Va., is a six-time cancer survivor at age 89.

"She's been through so much and she's so strong," Matheny said.

For Angels pitcher Jerome Williams, wearing the pink equipment isn't anything new. The 31-year-old right-hander has worn a pink glove ever since losing his mother to breast cancer in 2001. A segment about Williams and his reason for wearing the glove aired Sunday on ESPN's Baseball Tonight.